42
by shadow-walker135
Summary: A small story about what happened to Orin and Riley after the events of '42'. Rated T because I'm paranoid.


Title: 42

Author: shadow-walker135

Summary: What happened to Orin and Riley after the episode '42'

AN: So, hey again. I was re-watching Doctor who series 3 yesterday and I was halfway through watching '42'(which is one of my favourite episodes) and thought to myself "You know what, they need a happy ending" and then it wouldn't leave me be, so here it is. Riley/Orin oneshot. Unbetad, like all my stories, so if you spot any mistakes please feel free to notify me.

This also skips around quite a bit so...meh.

* * *

The whirring sound the tiny wooden ship made as it disappeared echoed slightly through the corridors of the ship, the royal blue of the wood fading away until it could no longer be seen. Riley kept his eyes trained on the place where it had been for a minute before turning to Orin, who was watching him with a saddened look in his eyes

"You alright?"

Riley shrugged. Saying nothing he turned and walked over to the small window, looking out into the endless night that lay before him. It would probably be the last time in a good long while that he would see it so he might as well enjoy it

"We're going to get arrested, aren't we?"

Orin snorted

"Probably. We were doing_ illegal_ energy scoops."

"We could play dumb."

"That will be easy for you."

Riley scowled at Orin, trying to desperately keep it in place but couldn't help the small humourless chuckle that passed his lips

"It will be, won't it?"

* * *

Around an hour later, the authorities picked them up; thoroughly questioning them before deciding that they hadn't known that the Captain had been taking energy scoops for cheap fuel and let them go. Dumping them on a planet that was mainly inhabited by humans in the Toragy system and leaving with the promise that they would look after the sun. Riley and Orin had hugged briefly before agreeing that it was best that they should go their separate ways. Riley regretted it almost as soon as he found himself alone in the street of the busy market place and staring at the empty spot that Orin had just vacated.

Riley knew he couldn't go home. His mother was still not speaking to him, and probably would laugh at how much of a failure he was; she was a terrible woman for that sort of thing. So he stayed on the quaint planet, finding a liveable flat near the ship building yard and picking up minor jobs here and there in the shipyard that kept him clear of too much debt, but he was lonely. He missed his old crew and Orin. Oh how he missed the grumpy, stubborn man and he often wished that they hadn't parted ways. He also missed Martha, but that ache was getting duller and duller every day, he knew that she wasn't coming back so there wasn't much point in waiting around for her. He had considered looking for Orin, but then he had quickly talked himself out of it, it was after all a big planet and for all he knew, Orin had left and gone home. The very idea made his heart sink further in his chest.

* * *

"Oi, Riley!"

He looked across the shipyard at his workmate, Arthur who was standing on top of a crate and waving a spanner around to try and get his attention. Riley sighed internally

"What?!"  
"Have you seen the newbie?"

Riley shook his head and much to his dismay; Arthur leapt down from the crate and skipped his way over to him, wiping a grease slicked hand across his high forehead and leaving a comically large smear of black across the shiny surface

"Well, I spoke to him this morning, and what a grumpy shit of a bloke he was. Told me to "Piss of" he did."

"I tell you to piss off all the time."

"Yeah, but you don't mean it. He had real force behind it."

'_If only you knew how much I meant it you would be running in the opposite direction'_

"Arty, have you thought that he's maybe just not a morning person?"

Arthur's eyes widened to the size of saucers

"Oh! I never thought of that! Maybe I should try again this afternoon."

"You do that. Now if you excuse me I have work to be doing."

"All work and no play made Riley a dull boy."

Arthur wiggled his eyebrows and Riley cringed slightly

"I'd rather be dull than sacked."

He turned and went back to his work before Arthur could answer.

* * *

Riley sat down on the unoccupied crate, rubbing his newly clean hand across his tired face and closed his eyes. Ten minutes of shut eye couldn't hurt

"Riley!"

'_There goes my ten minutes'_

He re-opened his eyes as Arthur plopped himself onto the empty space on the crate beside him, his eyes watering and his red hair arranged hastily in an attempt to cover the purpling bruise on his left temple

"He hit me."

"I guessed by the bruise."

"You can see it? What the hell am I supposed to do? I was going out on the pull tonight and now I can't go."

"What a shame."

Riley's voice was laced with sarcasm, but Arthur didn't seem to pick up on it

"I know right?"

He tucked his knees up to his chest and started rocking back and forth, gaining a few questioning looks in their direction that Riley answered with a roll of his eyes. They nodded in understanding, nothing to worry about other than Arthur being a drama queen yet again. Riley just wished he wasn't the one to deal with it

"Would you like me to have words with him?"

Arthur instantly stopped and turned around, hugging Riley's arm in a way that made Riley want to create another bruise on Arthur's face

"Oh would you? You'd do that for little old me?"

Riley nodded and untangled himself from Arthur's vice like hands

"Where is he?"

"He was by the newest ships engine the last time I saw him. He must still be there though 'cause I heard some of the others say that the guy must have been a machine 'cause he hasn't taken a break since he started this morning."

"It makes him efficient, not a machine."

"I beg to differ."

He pointed to his temple and pouted making Riley roll his eyes; Arthur was going to milk his 'injury' for weeks and Riley was never going to here the end of it. He scurried off in the direction of the engine, thankful to get away from the annoying idiot.

Riley stood in shock, looking at the man with his back to him about five metres in front of him. It couldn't be, he had barely caught a glimpse of the face but he knew who it was

"Orin?"

He turned at his name, his eyes landing on Riley and disbelief flooding into his face

"Riley?"

Riley had closed the distance between them and hugged the man before he could protest, clapping him hard on the back

"I thought you'd left the planet."

"It's funny, 'cause I thought the same thing about you. I thought you had family back on Earth."

"I do, but I didn't want my Mam to know how much of a failure her son is."

They released each other and each took in the others face, Riley's hand still placed on Orin's shoulder

"How have you been?"

"Alright I suppose. Found myself a bit strapped for cash so I picked up a job here. How about you?"

"Good, a little lonely but fine all the same."

"What? No girlfriend? Boyfriend?"

Riley laughed and collapsed onto a nearby crate, Orin following and sitting close beside him

"It's hard to find one, what with Arthur hanging around like a bad smell?"

"Arthur... Is that the one I whacked?"

"Yep. Oh God he's annoying."

"I got that. He tried to give me some sort of piss water that he called tea and then continued to attempt to force me to drink it."

"Ah. A well deserved hit then."

"I like to think so."

The pair continued their break time conversations for months, the pair becoming close to inseparable over limp sandwiches and mud like coffee. Arthur stopped speaking to Riley after a while as he was to afraid to approach him with Orin always close by, but Riley found that he didn't mind so much. He had never liked the drama that came with Arthur, who would cry and moan about the littlest of things, and in all honesty he was glad that Arthur had been hit that day because it was very likely that he wouldn't have seen Orin at all with all the yard workers mulling around.

It was over the next two months that Riley started to develop feelings exceeding that of friendship for Orin, although he wouldn't be able to place when exactly butterflies started doing the Charleston in his stomach every time they were together, and since they were hardly ever parted, Riley was in a constant state of nausea. What also didn't help matters was that Orin and Riley had come to the mutual agreement that Orin should move in to Riley's flat since it was closer to the shipyard and they also took into account that he was very rarely at his own place anyway and wasting money on rent and bills on a barely lived in flat. They would often sit together on Riley's uncomfortable sofa and eat whatever one of them had made for dinner, which was more often than not burned or foul smelling, and then they would take out a bottle of whisky and fill the only glass that Riley had in his cupboards several times, always half full and share the drink between them, passing the glass between them until the amber coloured drink was gone. The only problem with this was that with a whisky in him, Orin could be even grumpier than usual and this lead to several arguments between them, both going for the throat and giving as good as they got until the point that one of them eventually gave up. It was on one of these nights that things changed for the both of them.

"What the hell is wrong with you? It happened almost a year ago, you need to get over it Orin."

"I'm sorry that I can't get over the death of my friend's as easily as you seem to Riley!"

He stood up, standing nose to nose with Riley, both Orin and Riley's eyes burning with anger

"I haven't gotten over it, I still think about them every day, but I don't let them hold me back like you do!"

"You should! If you had moved faster and not gotten yourself trapped in the damn escape pod Korwin and McDonnell might still be alive!"

Riley looked as if he had been slapped, his eyes going watery as he reeled backwards and away from Orin

"Is that really what you think?"

"Yes!"

He practically snarled still glaring at Riley. His anger ebbed and his mind cleared at the look on Riley's face and he just realised what he had said

"Ri..."

But Riley wasn't listening, he had yanked his jacket from the back of the chair and was already out the door before Orin could apologise, the door banging shut behind him. Orin stared at the door before slumping down onto the sofa and covering his face with his hands '_What have I done?'_

Riley had walked around the town for hours in the rain, the weight of Orin's words weighing heavy on his heart. He knew what Orin was like, he knew that he probably didn't mean it, but it didn't stop the words from stabbing him in the heart viciously. Was it really his fault? He hadn't really thought about it until now, and now that the idea was planted in his head, he couldn't escape it. He trudged up the stairs to the flat, eyes trained to the key in his hand as he thrust the key into the lock and hurriedly opened the door. He closed it behind him as gently as possible, hoping not to waken Orin and have an awkward moment that would lead to an even more awkward apology. That could wait until tomorrow. Riley removed his soaking jacket and threw it in the general direction of the sofa

"Mph. What on Earth..."

Orin removed the jacket from his head, spotting Riley almost immediately. He stood up, casting the jacket onto the sofa and moving towards him slightly, raising his arms slightly from his sides as if he were away to hug him but he lowered them again, clearly thinking better of it

"I was worried that you weren't going to come back."

"I thought about it."

The pair stood in the awkward silence, both avoiding the gaze of the other until Orin spoke again, raising his head

"About what I said earlier..."

"Its fine, it doesn't matter."

"It does though! You did everything you could to save us. McDonnell made her own choice." He grabbed Riley's chin, forcing him to look him in the eye "And if you hadn't escaped, you wouldn't be here with me."

Riley's heart was thundering in his ears as he closed the distance between them, pressing his lips against Orin's. After a few seconds of indecision, Orin began to kiss back, one hand gently cupping Riley's cheek while the other tangled itself into Riley's short brown hair. The kiss deepened and Riley was pushed up against the wall. Orin broke the kiss, placing his forehead gently against Riley's and letting their moist breath mingle in the sliver of a gap between their lips

"I've wanted to do that for ages."

Riley murmured placing another chaste kiss against Orin's mouth

"It's funny 'cause I've wanted the same thing for a while now."

"Should we call in sick tomorrow?"

"That's a very good idea."

AN: Yeah, so...The end and a sappy one at that. Please read and review.


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